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Egypt

✨ The gift of the Nile

Egypt is a country in northeastern Africa, with a small part of its territory, the Sinai Peninsula, located in Asia. It borders Libya to the west, Sudan to the south, and Israel and the Gaza Strip to the northeast. Its northern coast faces the Mediterranean Sea, while its eastern coast meets the Red Sea. Cairo, situated along the Nile, is the capital and largest city.

Covering about 1 million square kilometres, Egypt is dominated by vast desert regions, including the Western Desert, the Eastern Desert and Sinai. Most of the population lives along the Nile Valley and in its delta, where fertile soils and access to water support agriculture and the growth of cities. The Nile is the country’s main river and has shaped its geography and human settlement for thousands of years.

Egypt has a predominantly hot and dry desert climate, although conditions vary between regions. Summers are generally very hot, while winters are milder, especially in the north. Rainfall is scarce across most of the country but is more frequent along the Mediterranean coast. The Nile Delta is one of Egypt’s main agricultural regions, while the Red Sea coast contains coral reefs and diverse marine ecosystems.

Egypt also controls the Suez Canal, an artificial waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. Opened in 1869, it is a major maritime route between Europe and Asia. Egypt became a republic in 1953 and uses the Egyptian pound as its currency. Arabic is the official language. The country’s geography is closely linked to the Nile, the surrounding deserts and its position between Africa, Asia and two important seas, factors that have contributed to its importance in regional trade and human history.

💡 Did you know?

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the seven wonders of the ancient world still standing! Built 4,500 years ago for Pharaoh Khufu, it consists of more than 2 million stone blocks. Some weigh as much as an elephant! No one knows exactly how the Egyptians managed to stack them so high without modern machines.

Did you know that the ancient Egyptians worshipped cats? They considered them protectors and full-fledged family members. Statues of cats covered in gold and cat mummies have even been found! Killing a cat was a very serious crime, as it was thought that these animals brought luck and protected against evil spirits.

Egyptian writing, hieroglyphs, is one of the most beautiful in the world. Instead of letters, they used small drawings: a bird, an eye, a snake... Each sign could represent a sound or an object. For centuries, no one could read them, until a Frenchman named Champollion managed to decipher the code thanks to a special stone called the Rosetta Stone.